“They’re trying — actively trying,” a person with knowledge of the situation told CSNPhilly.com on Monday afternoon. “They’re making offers.”

Salisbury reports that the Phillies are willing to go to six years, though whether they’ve actually made an offer of that length is uncertain. Salisbury believes Hamels wants something close to the $24 million per season that Cliff Lee is earning on his five-year deal.

“I think it happens,” one plugged-in person told Salisbury. “But you never know until they all agree.”

One thing seems pretty sure; if the Phillies aren’t willing to go to $140 million over six years, another team will be this winter. A trade is likely if nothing is agreed to.

They can easily afford him. Victorino, Polanco and Blanton come off the books after this year. That’s about $27M. Hamels is making $15M this year. If you bring Cole up to $24M, that leaves $18M left to spread around and there’s only about $7M in raises due next year (not including Pence).

And they’re raking in money, they know the window is closing. They can exceed the salary cap for a year if they need to. because all these guys are gonna be off the books soon enough.

Having an old team should not be a deterrent to signing a 28 year old. It should be a reason to sign a 28 year old.

OK, so after the raises that leaves like $11 to spread around. If they don’t re-sign Victorino or Polanco then they’re gonna need a CF and a 3B. The roster is just poorly constructed. You have no idea what you’re gonna get out of Howard or Utley. Rollins is solid for a shortstop, Ruiz is one of the best. Pence is good. They’re gonna need a LF, CF and 3B, so whether they re-sign Victorino and Polanco they’re gonna have to spend that whole $11M that’s coming off the books to replace or re-sign them. They’re paying Papelbon $15M. Halladay and Lee are both making around $20M.

Basically what I’m saying, is that if Halladay and Lee are making $20M, Howard is making $25M, they pay Cole $25M, and Pap is making $15M, you’ve got $105M tied up in 5 players. The luxury tax penalty is harsher than it used to be, so sure, they could exceed it, but I don’t think they’re gonna go overboard with it. They have nothing in the farm system and it’s because they went all in for so long. And good for them, flags fly forever. But this team has some serious holes. They need to get some young, cheap talent, and while Hamels is young, we know he won’t be cheap.

The problem with trying to completely rebuild is it could take 20 years. You have to replace a piece here and piece there like the Braves did during their run. You can’t have a fire sale and completely rebuild. Especially since the guys the Phils usually did in their trades always stink. Well, except for Gio Gonalez, and they traded him away too.